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Photo caption: Beauden Barrett The British and Irish Lions used a rush defence to great effect in their drawn series against the All Blacks but first five eight Beauden Barrett said they will ready to counter if the Wallabies adopt the same tactic in Saturday’s opening Rugby Championship test in Sydney on Saturday.The All Blacks, romped through last year’s tournament with an average of six tries per match on the back of a fast-paced, high-skilled game with Barrett pulling the strings.In their three-test series, the Lions were able to stifle the All Blacks attack with a defensive pattern that pressured Barrett in close and cut off his options out wide.While other teams may see the system as a blueprint for how to play against the world champions, 2016 World Player of the Year Barrett said the All Blacks had already come up with ways of exploiting the space it can offer.”Some teams in Super Rugby adopted that style of defence too, and we do understand it puts the person with the ball under a bit more pressure,” Barrett said.”But … there are opportunities elsewhere.”If the Wallabies do bring that on Saturday, we have learned ways to deal with it. It is an ongoing trend; more teams are starting to bring that line speed.”While Australian rugby is beset by problems on and off the field, the ease with which All Blacks won last year’s southern hemisphere competition seems to have been forgotten, perhaps due to the Lions series.The Lions forced the All Blacks into errors, put them under sustained pressure and exposed some poor decision making.Barrett said the Lions series had been the ideal wake-up call.”We were perhaps tested in areas where we haven’t been before, so that’s exactly what we wanted,” he said.”We ask those hard questions of ourselves and of our team mates and it gets the best out of the team. It is just what we needed.”read more

“They know if they keep it over the plate, the worst they’re going to give up is probably a double,” Pierre said. “It’s kind of a Catch-22 situation.” Another starter candidate: Add non-roster right-hander Joe Mays, whom the Dodgers signed less than two weeks ago, to the long list of those vying for the fifth spot in the starting rotation. Little said before Saturday’s first workout of the spring for pitchers and catchers that Mays will be kept on a starter’s throwing program at least through the early part of camp. “He has a good history,” Little said. “He will be given the opportunity to make this ballclub, and we will certainly try to put him in a position he is most comfortable with.” Mays, 31, has spent most of his seven-year career in the majors as a starter, but his overall success has been spotty. He is 48-70 with a 5.05 ERA after pitching six seasons for Minnesota and splitting last year between Cincinnati and Kansas City. Alone time: Several members of the Dodgers’ organizational brain trust walked out to Holman Stadium together for the start of the morning workout. When they broke off into various side conversations, special assistant Bill Mueller found himself standing alone in the right-field corner, watching what should have been his teammates being put through their paces by strength coach Doug Jarrow. Mueller, the former third baseman and American League batting champion who signed a two-year, $9.5 million free-agent deal with the Dodgers before last season, was forced into early retirement and a front-office career by an irreparable knee injury. “It’s always difficult to not be playing when you feel like your skills are at a level where you still could play, but because of an injury, you’re not,” Mueller said. “But that’s the way it is. I still love the game, and that’s why I wanted to do what I’m doing now.” tony.jackson@dailynews.com (818) 713-3675 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! VERO BEACH, Fla. – Addressing one of the offseason’s hot-button issues for the first time, Juan Pierre refused to fan any controversial flames Saturday. The fleet center fielder, whom the Dodgers signed to a five-year, $44 million contract in November, said he has no preference between batting first or second. Shortstop Rafael Furcal, the guy who will fill whichever of those spots Pierre doesn’t, hasn’t arrived at spring training and isn’t required to until Tuesday. “I went through a similar situation in Florida with Luis Castillo, who was an established leadoff man and a great leadoff man,” said Pierre, who was traded to the Marlins from Colorado the winter after the 2002 season, during which Castillo had a 35-game hitting streak. “I have batted second before, and I know Furcal is a great leadoff man who did a great job last year. It won’t change my approach. I always try to take pitches, regardless.” Manager Grady Little said he plans to try both Pierre-Furcal and Furcal-Pierre alignments during Grapefruit League games before making a decision. All Little has promised so far is that once he has decided, he won’t change his mind unless the alignment he chooses proves after a time to be a failure. In other words, he won’t flip the left-handed hitting Pierre and the switch-hitting Furcal just because the Dodgers are facing a certain pitcher. Although he has spent the vast majority of his career batting first, including 158 games with the Chicago Cubs last season, Pierre’s lifetime on-base percentage (.350) is below optimum for a leadoff man. But Pierre said that statistic is misleading. “I try to get my walks,” Pierre said. “I rarely swing at first pitches, and I get a lot of 2-0, 3-1 counts. But I usually won’t take a pitch just off the plate because I don’t trust the umpire to call it a ball, and I also expand my zone a little bit with two strikes.” Pierre has two factors working against him. First, he is such a lethal stolen-base threat, having swiped as many as 65 in a season, that pitchers are loathe to give him a free ticket to first base. Second, pitchers who fall behind in the count aren’t afraid to come back with meaty fastballs to him, because he never has hit more than three home runs in a season. read more

160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set! Nickelodeon delivered on its promise of the slimiest show ever at the 20th annual Kids’ Choice Awards, handing out orange blimps to Justin Timberlake and The Black Eyed Peas and bathing stars and several rows of fans in the bright green gunk for which it’s famous. Timberlake, the emcee of Saturday’s event telecast live from UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, was named favorite male singer in the awards, decided by online votes cast by Nickelodeon viewers. The Black Eyed Peas won favorite group. Adam Sandler accepted favorite movie actor, going goofily breathless as he thanked “the people who put potato chips in bags” and “the inventor of the pillow.” Other winners included Queen Latifah for favorite voice from an animated movie (“Ice Age 2: The Meltdown”), Drake Bell of “Drake & Josh” for favorite TV actor and “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” for favorite movie. “This is the coolest trophy, my favorite blimp I’ll ever have,” gushed a giddy Dakota Fanning, named favorite movie actress. The little show that began in 1988 has become a major attraction for high-caliber celebrities. Orlando Bloom accepted the “Pirates” award, shouting, “Hope you like the third movie!” And Nicole Kidman accepted the favorite animated movie award for “Happy Feet,” saying she’d be honored to take it back to director George Miller in Australia, where he can display it beside his Oscar. Presenters included Ryan Seacrest, Steve Carrell, Jessica Alba and Toby Maguire, and Stephen Spielberg was there, just because. “American Idol” sent Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul to accept the favorite TV show honor, and the 12,000 fans on hand enjoyed live performances by Maroon 5 and Gwen Stefani. The Wannabe Award, given to a celebrity who inspires kids to be like him, went to comic actor Ben Stiller. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be so many things: an astronaut, an archaeologist, Spider-Man, Cole Sprouse,” he said, the last name referring to one of the pre-teen twins who star in Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.” “At the end of the day, the most important person you should want to be is you, because there’s only one you, and you can be anything you want to be.” Timberlake opened the show with a flourish, entering on the networks trademark orange blimp, sporting a tux with an orange satin bow tie and scarf. He tapped and spun through a old-fashioned number backed by high-kicking showgirls (which likely left most of this audience thinking, “Huh?”), and then brought it back down to earth by finishing in a fountain of slime. It wouldn’t be a Kids Choice Awards show without a slime stunt and a gross trick or two. The stunt involved bungee jumper Ron Jones plummeting from a 225-foot platform into 8,000 gallons of slime, a move the show touted as a “world record” as if someone else had already done it from a lower altitude into perhaps a few gallons less of slime. The annual burp contest had previous champ Timberlake ceding his title to the Pauley audience, which won the challenge by ganging together in a simultaneous belch that resonated in the rafters with a little help from sound effects. Among the novel ways in which the winners were announced was Bell’s name on an artificial booger picked from an oversized nose. Vince Vaughn joined Timberlake on stage for the final sliming, which called for detonating a charge beneath the stage to unleash an “atomic cloud” of green stuff. The very idea had many in the VIP seats cowering under their Nickelodeon magazines, and rightly so. After the fountain on stage was triggered, Vaughn and Timberlake turned slime fire hoses on the floor audience, making more than a few spring from their seats and away from the stage. “The slime barrier has been broken!” Timberlake shouted triumphantly. Indeed. For the next few hours, the crew worked to restore the pavilion to its regular state as the home court of the UCLA Bruins. And the producers started thinking of ways to outslime themselves next year. Valerie Kuklenski, (818) 713-3750 valerie.kuklenski@dailynews.comread more

Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino insists goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is happy at the club despite being linked with a lucrative move away from White Hart Lane.The France captain, who signed a new five-year deal with Spurs last summer, has been in outstanding form this season.Reports have suggested that Spanish giants Real Madrid are lining up a £25m move for the 28-year-old, while Manchester United are also said to be monitoting Lloris amid doubts about the long-term future of David de Gea.But Pochettino insists Tottenham have no plans to sell the coveted ‘keeper and hopes he can achieve his ambitions of playing in the Champions League with the north London club.“Hugo is one of the best keepers in the world and I have recognised that,” he said.“His contribution is magnificent, Hugo is very happy here with us. It’s difficult for these kind of clubs to get him because he’s happy here.“Maybe in the future he can play in the Champions League with Tottenham.” Hugo Lloris 1read more

1 Louis van Gaal hs refused to rule out a summer departure for Angel Di Maria – but claims the PSG target is expected to join Manchester United’s tour of the United States on Saturday.The Argentine failed to impress at United last season following his record move to Old Trafford from Real Madrid.The 27-year-old spent a large chunk of the second half of the season on the bench at United and he has subsequently been linked with a big-money move to PSG.Di Maria is currently on leave after his exertions with Argentina at the Copa America, but Van Gaal insists the midfielder will fly to the US on Saturday, as had been originally planned before the tour started.“He will come on July 25,” the United manager said.Van Gaal refused to dismiss reports United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward met with PSG officials to discuss Di Maria’s future on Tuesday.“I cannot answer that,” the Dutchman said.“It is a process. When we think we have to say something, we will.”Di Maria has also encountered problems off the field since his move to England.He and his family moved out of their Cheshire home in February following an attempted burglary.Senior sources at United recently downplayed suggestions Di Maria was unsettled in Manchester, but that has not stopped cash-rich PSG from being linked with a move for the player.As well as Di Maria, Marcos Rojo and Javier Hernandez are also expected to join the squad on Saturday, when United play their third tour match – against Barcelona at the Levi’s Stadium in California.The trio are not expected to play in the match against Barcelona but will be available for United’s last match – against PSG – which could prove interesting if Van Gaal selects Di Maria.Barcelona’s Pedro is in the frame as a potential new recruit if Van Gaal decides to cut his losses on Di Maria. Angel Di Maria read more

1 Max Kruse [left] in action for Wolfsburg Tottenham have been put on red alert after Max Kruse handed in a transfer request at Wolfsburg.The 28-year-old only arrived at the club this time last year but endured a mixed first season, scoring just six goals in 32 Bundesliga appearances.He missed out on a place in the Germany Euro 2016 squad and now wants out at Wolfsburg, according to Kicker.The German news outlet have reported that Kruse has handed in a transfer request and is plotting a move abroad, which could tempt Spurs into a bid.The north London club are in the market for attacking reinforcements this summer and could turn back to their long-term target this summer.Any move would bring to an end a tempestuous spell at Wolfsburg, who reportedly fined him £20,000 when he accidentally left £60,000 of poker winnings on the back seat of a taxi.read more

The Government has announced €230,000 to help improve facilities at the Aura Leisure Centre in Letterkenny.The funding is part of a nationwide campaigned aimed at improving facilities at 19 leisure centres across the country.The news has been welcomed by Senator Jimmy Harte. The money will used to facilitate people with disabilities and also to improve energy efficiency and save taxpayer’s money.Senator Harte said “The complex will be able to improve access and facilities for people with disabilities. The grant be used for a range of purposes depending on the pool, including providing ramps, hoists, widening doorways or new changing facilities’.“The grants will also be help these pools to become more energy efficient, and reduce their carbon footprint. Large heating bills are the single biggest cost in running a swimming pool.“So by making them more efficient, we are also reducing the burden on taxpayers by cutting back on energy and water requirements.” “It’s particularly welcome that the grants will have a positive effect on employment levels, helping to sustain jobs and in some cases create new ones.” Ends€230,000 GOVERNMENT GRANT FOR LETTERKENNY’S AURA LEISURE CENTRE was last modified: August 25th, 2011 by StephenShare this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Tags:Aura Leisure CentreSenator Jimmy Harteread more

AD Quality Auto 360p 720p 1080p Top articles1/5READ MOREWalnut’s Malik Khouzam voted Southern California Boys Athlete of the Week With victories in its two remaining matches – the Indians played Burroughs of Burbank on Tuesday and conclude regular-season play Thursday at home against Canyon – Hart would force Saugus to win out its two remaining matches. One of those matches is Thursday against Valencia, meaning Saugus would have to pull off a huge upset. The Centurions played Canyon on Tuesday. “I think it shows that, below Valencia, there’s a lot of parity,” Hart coach Steve Love said. Hart holds the tiebreaker if it tied with Saugus for second place, based on margin of victory in head-to-head meetings. The Indians won 11-7 on Oct. 3. If history is a guide, Saugus likely would make the playoffs as a wild card, but that berth would be left to a seeding committee. NEWHALL – In Foothill League girls’ tennis, there’s Valencia, and then there’s everybody else. And as the Vikings (8-0 heading into Tuesday’s match against Burbank) close in on what would be their second consecutive unbeaten league season, everybody else is scrambling for playoff position. On Thursday, upstart Saugus made that race a lot more interesting, upsetting Hart 10-8. The victory moved the Centurions (6-2) into a second place, one match ahead of Hart (5-3) with two remaining. Hart remains in position to grab one of the league’s two guaranteed Southern Section Div. III playoff berths. Hart represented the league as a wild card the past two years. Love said it “would be nice” to make the playoffs as a second-place team. “The big thing is that we’d have a few more days of practice (by avoiding the wild-card round), but (if we are the wild card) we’re still tied for second – that’s how I’d still think of it.” Marist-bound: Valencia standouts Cassie and Alexa Strange made verbal commitments to Division I Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., becoming the school’s first girls’ tennis players to receive scholarships. The Strange twins were recruited by several Division I programs, including the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and the U.S. Military Academy (Army) in West Point, N.Y. “We’re just really excited to play for a Division I, school,” Alexa said. “We really like the campus, and we really like the coach.” Alexa said she’s plans to major in business management and communications. Cassie is undecided about her major. They made it clear to recruiters that their collegiate tennis aspiration was a 2-for-1 deal. “We wanted to stick together for at least a couple of more years,” Cassie said. Injury update: Alexa Strange reported some progress with a right ankle injury that’s sidelined her several weeks. She hopes to play next week at the Nov. 2-3 Foothill League Individual prelims and finals, in which she would play with her sister, Cassie, in the doubles’ tournament. The Strange sisters planned to compete in doubles, in which they’re thought to have a better chance of making a deep playoff run, before Alexa’s injury. Alexa likely would be more effective in doubles because she’d have less ground to cover. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be ready,” she said. Gideon Rubin, (818)713-3607 gideon.rubin@dailynews.com 160Want local news?Sign up for the Localist and stay informed Something went wrong. Please try again.subscribeCongratulations! You’re all set!read more

Ray Maota Patrice Motsepe, South African mining magnate, Mamelodi Sundowns football club owner and billionaire, graces the cover of the first issue of Forbes Africa. (Image: Forbes Africa) MEDIA CONTACTS • Forbes Africa +27 860 100 209 RELATED ARTICLES • Law and Order comes to Cape Town • SA actresses make it big in Hollywood • Bieber wins top press photo award • Made in Cape Town: African sci-fiForbes Africa, the latest edition of the world-renowned business magazine, has hit the shelves in South Africa.The launch was held at Montecasino in Fourways, northern Johannesburg, on 29 September 2011.The magazine’s inaugural African edition, which went on sale on 1 October, is published by ABN Publishing and distributed by On the Dot, a leading media logistics company in South Africa.Content for the publication will be derived from a partnership with Africa Business News and TV station CNBC Africa.The business magazine can be found at CNA and Exclusive Books, as well as other selected retailers in South Africa. It will also be available in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Angola, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius, Botswana and Namibia.Chris Bishop, managing editor of the publication, said: “I am honoured to head up Forbes Africa. It will be a crisp and lucid voice which will resonate wherever people do business – a voice that will articulate the energy, hard work and dreams of the people of Africa.“Forbes Africa is a pan-African magazine that will celebrate and analyse the entrepreneurial spirit in the continent to spark ideas.”Cover manGracing the first issue is South African mining magnate, football club owner and billionaire, Patrice Motsepe.In the issue Motsepe comments on the debate surrounding the nationalisation of mines, money and football.Motsepe said at the launch: “It’s a huge honour to be on the cover of this prestigious magazine, as the people that will feature in this publication will reflect just how excellent entrepreneurship has become in Africa.”The chairperson of Africa Rainbow Minerals and owner of Mamelodi Sundowns, one of the top four football teams in the country, is estimated to be worth US$3.3-billion (R28-billion) and was ranked the 503rd billionaire in the world in 2008.Giving his views on nationalisation as an industry leader, Motsepe said in the first issue that he believes business should be caring about the welfare of its fellow citizens – just as it cares about share growth, competitiveness and the next dividend.Commenting on challenges facing his football team, Motsepe said: “We mainly went into soccer not to make money, but as a means of giving back. Of course we never thought we would lose so much money.“But it’s important for people to know they can relate to you, that you are not an arrogant, aloof, uninvolved person.”The 20 most powerful women in AfricaThe first issue of Forbes Africa also highlights the 20 most powerful women on the continent, ranging from positions in politics, telecoms, finance, mining and aeronautics.In order from one – 10, they are: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia; Ngozi Okonjo-Iweal, minister of finance in Nigeria; Joyce Banda, vice-president of Malawi; Gill Marcus, governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa; Joyce Mujuru, vice-president of Zimbabwe; Diezani Allison-Madueke, minister of petroleum resources in Nigeria; Isabel Dos Santos, an Angolan businesswomen; Maria Ramos, CEO of Absa bank; Mamphele Ramphele, former director of the World Bank; and Linah Mohohlo, governor of the Bank of Botswana.Positions 11 – 20 went to: Nicky-Newton King, deputy CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange; Wangari Mathaai, the first African women to receive a Nobel Peace Prize; Siza Mzimela, CEO of South African Airways; Nonkululeko Nyembezi Heita, CEO of Arcelor Mittal in South Africa; Graça Machel, chancellor of the University of Cape Town; Pinky Moholi, CEO of Telkom; Hynd Bouhia, former director of the Casablanca Stock Exchange; Bridgette Radebe, chairperson of Mmakau Mining; Irene Charnley, non-executive director of the MTN group; and Monhla Hlahla, CEO of Airports Company South Africa.The honour to Wangari Mathaai, Kenyan environmentalist and political activist, comes posthumously as she died in Nairobi at age 71 on 25 September 2011 after a long battle with cancer.She was the first East African women to receive a doctorate in anatomy and the first environmentalist to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for her initiatives in promoting sustainable development, democracy and peace.read more